Texts in Conversation
Psalm 55 asks God to bring treacherous men down to the pit. Rabbinic tradition in Ecclesiastes Rabbah interprets the dead flies of Ecclesiastes as Doeg and Ahithophel, quoting the psalm as the small folly that unraveled David's wisdom.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Psalm 55:23
Hebrew Bible
20 He attacks his friends; he breaks his solemn promises to them. 21 His words are as smooth as butter, but he harbors animosity in his heart. His words seem softer than oil, but they are really like sharp swords. 22 Throw your burden upon the Lord, and he will sustain you. He will never allow the godly to be shaken. 23 But you, O God, will bring them down to the deep Pit. Violent and deceitful people will not live even half a normal life-span. But as for me, I trust in you.
Ecclesiastes Rabbah 10:1
Aggadah
Rabbinic
Another matter: “Dead flies spoil and froth a perfumer’s oil…” refers to Do’eg and Aḥitofel. Yesterday, they were vilifying David with their words and saying: His lineage is flawed; does he not descend from Ruth the Moavite? Today they are expressing matters and are ashamed. “Weightier than wisdom, than honor” – this is the prophecy of David.4 “A little folly” – “You, God, bring them down to the pit of destruction…” (Psalms 55:24).
Date: 700-950 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
“... The parallelism between Eccl 10:1a, “Dead flies…putrid,” and 10:1b, “so a little folly…wisdom,” is apparent; just as the dead flies can contaminate the perfumer’s anointment, so also an act of foolishness can overshadow wisdom. The author of the book of Ecclesiastes uses a simile to underline the importance of wisdom and to demonstrate its fragile nature. The rabbinic mind grasped the descriptively allegorical sense of the original verse that serves its interpretative agenda. [...] “Doeg and Ahithophel” are likened to “dead flies” because of their stance towards David. The word “wisdom” prefigures David’s prophecy, while the phrase “a little folly” is associated with Doeg and Ahithophel’s behavior that sufficed to undo David’s great wisdom as it is witnessed by Ps 55:24. Doeg and Ahithophel’s actions against David made him pray to God and ask for their punishment. It was that deed which annulled David’s wisdom. ...”
Kitsos, Michail
"Examples of Intertextuality in Ecclesiastes Rabbah: An Examination of the Book of Psalms in Ecclesiastes Rabbah with Methodological Nuances" in Dell, Katharine Julia, and Will Kynes (eds.) Reading Ecclesiastes Intertextually
(pp. 271-272) Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2014
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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